A chara, - Áine Morris of the Labour Party argues that her party, "by abolishing third level fees, sought to open college up to more young people". I challenge her to produce the evidence to back up this assertion.
The reality is that those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds going to college always had their fees covered through the grant scheme. When Niamh Bhreathnach abolished fees (with the exception of an ever-increasing registration charge), not one grant-aided student benefited. It should also be remembered that she was the only Minister for Education who froze the level of higher education grants.
If one studies the excellent work by Dr Pat Clancy of UCD over the past 20 years on "Who Goes to College", the facts remain very clear. If you come from a professional family background, you are four to five times more likely to make it to third level than if you come from a manual working background.
The real costs of going to college are accommodation, transport and day-to-day costs. Dr Michael Woods as Education Minister introduced additional financial assistance for the most disadvantaged students on top of improvements to the grant scheme. Noel Dempsey has made some further welcome changes in this regard, but still has a long way to go.
His challenge is to ensure that when he leaves office in five years no student is denied access to higher or further education because of financial difficulties. "Abolishing" fees in the mid-90s did nothing to advance that goal. - Is mise,
Cllr. MALCOLM BYRNE, (Fianna Fáil), Gorey Town Council, Gorey, Co Wexford.